Electrical Breakdown is of fundamental interest to the researcher looking at the inherent breakdown strength of a polymer, to the design engineer who needs to examine the Weibull distribution of breakdown,to the manufacturer,and to the
end customer. The articles by Nelson and Dissdo and Fother gill provide a valuable insight into the wide range of factors in making such measurements and in the difficulties of relating simple measurements on a polymer in the laboratory to its breakdown performance in the field. It should be noted that all the polymers discussed in this article have breakdown performance, extensively verified, Which has enabled their successful long-term performance in the application identified.